“The director and tac team will be on their way at some point,” Girard said, then shook his head. “Just not right now. We’re on our own.”
Rhodda had reached the building where the ATVs were stored. She ducked inside the open double doors at the front. Hallie followed, finding herself in a low-ceilinged room full of machinery and the scents of oil and fuel and old sweat. There was space for at least one more ATV and Hallie couldn’t see the old, heavy motorcycle that Blondie and Red had taken in their hunt for Girard. She hoped that they were having a thoroughly miserable time hunting through the forest a long way from here.
“You seem to know your way around,” Hallie commented, as Rhodda threaded her way through the vehicles towards the back wall with no hesitation.
“I’ve been here before. Jonah forces me to service the vehicles and the lift from time to time,” Rhodda said. She wasn’t looking at Hallie or Girard, but Hallie thought she could hear shame in the older woman’s voice.
“Jonah threatens to hurt Brock if she doesn’t do what he wants,” Hallie told Girard. “But what Rhodda didn’t know is that Brock goes along with it.”
“Stop saying that,” Rhodda hissed. She was trying to sound angry, but Hallie could hear the catch in her voice. Even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself, Rhodda knew somehow that Hallie was telling the truth.
“That’s twisted,” Girard said to Hallie. “What hold do you think Jonah has over Rhodda’s son?”
“I don’t know. From what I’ve learned, the men here get paid and fed, and Jonah keeps them occupied. They all follow him. Brock almost seems to worship him.”
Rhodda flinched, and pointedly didn’t look at Hallie or reply. It might mean that the other woman was beginning to accept the truth, but Hallie doubted it. She hesitated, wondering if she should say something about Findo’s role in Devin’s death, but decided against it. Too complicated a story for just now, and there was no point in upsetting Rhodda further. Particularly notwhen they were going to need to deal with Jonah and his men to get her son back.
“Here,” Rhodda said, her back still to Hallie, pointing to the cupboard in the back wall that she had just opened.
Hallie’s mouth dropped open at the contents. Not just one or two guns, but enough weapons and ammunition to kit out a small army and start a war. And, based on what she’d seen of Jonah, he’d have another stash of weapons somewhere else in the house. He wouldn’t risk having everything in one place.
“I’m pretty sure Jonah is engaged in smuggling,” Hallie said, “but I never imagined this.”
“A few of these weapons are brand new on the market. They should only be available to governments,” Girard said, frowning as he stared into the cupboard. He lifted something out of the cupboard and held it up. “Here, this could be useful.” He handed it to Hallie, who took the item, realising that it was a body armour vest, surprisingly lightweight in her hands. She shrugged it on finding it a little large, but the straps at the sides tightened almost far enough for it to be a snug fit. While she was adjusting the vest, Girard was poring over the contents of the cupboard and selecting a few items. He held out a gun in its holster, complete with several spare magazines, to Hallie, then when she’d put that on, handed her a couple of rifles.
“These are automatic,” he told her, then showed her how to unload and reload.
As she slung one of the weapons over her shoulder by the long strap that came with it, Hallie saw Rhodda taking a pair of handguns and stuffing ammunition into her pockets. The other woman had a tight expression on her face somewhere between grief and anger.
“Wait a moment,” Girard said, keeping his voice low, but loud enough for Rhodda to hear. “We need to have some kind of plan.We can’t just go in and shoot everyone. That’s going to get a lot of people hurt, and may get us killed.”
Rhodda looked as if she wanted to argue but somehow held her silence. She thought her son was missing, Hallie reminded herself.
“I counted twenty men earlier,” Hallie told Girard. “All of them armed. I can’t be sure that was all of them. And there’s Findo as well.”
“Who is this Findo? You seem more concerned about him than my son. Why is he so special?” Rhodda asked, bitterness in her voice.
“He’s a very dangerousveondkenwho was running illegal fight rings in low city,” Hallie told her. “He’s at least as dangerous as Jonah, and far more powerful. He escaped from Conclave custody. I’ve no idea how he ended up here.”
Rhodda gave a little sniff, as if she was unmoved and unimpressed, but Hallie had caught the tiny flash of fear.
“I really wish we could call for back-up,” Hallie said, mostly to herself. She was used to going into situations on her own, but that was usually her against one fugitive and no matter how powerful the fugitive was, it had always felt more like a fair fight. Even with Girard and the body armour she was wearing, this didn’t feel like any kind of fight they could win.
“I think Jonah has a radio here,” Rhodda said unexpectedly.
“Sorry, what?” Hallie’s voice rose in disbelief. She stared at the woman. “You’re telling me there’s been a radio here all along and you’re only mentioning this now?”
“You never asked,” Rhodda answered. But she wouldn’t meet Hallie’s eyes.
“You said you think he has a radio. Where?” Girard asked, before Hallie could say any of the angry things on her mind.
“He’s got some kind of office at the front of the house. I’m sure he’s got a communicator of some kind, but I’m not sure what.I’ve never been in the room,” Rhodda added, an almost plaintive tone to her voice as she glanced at Hallie.
“Anything else you’d like to tell us? Anything else we might find helpful to know?” Hallie asked, a savage edge to her voice. Whatever sympathy she owed Rhodda, who was worrying about her son, it had worn away.
“I can’t think of anything,” Rhodda said. Hallie believed her.
“Twenty men, though,” Hallie said softly. She looked around the garage with its collection of ATVs. “We’d do better to steal one of these, fix the radio at Reunion and come back when we’ve got back-up.”
